Lucky Letters of the Melbourne Cup 2018

There aren’t a lot of horses with names starting with the letter P in this year’s field of Melbourne Cup runners. That’s going to make things a little tricky for those who trust their lucky letter “P” to choose their horses. Why the letter “P” you ask? Well the statistics are clear. The letter P is the luckiest letter when it comes to names of past Melbourne Cup winners. The letter P has featured 23 times as the first letter of words in previous winners’ names.

Prince of Penzance helped it along with 2 hits for the letter P when it won in 2015. Protectionist won in 2014. Media Puzzle in 2002. Might and Power in 1997.

Twenty-three words beginning with P in the history of the Cup since 1861 may not seem like that many… but to put it in context, only one other letter comes close. The letter “T” has 18 hits.

“A” “B” and “S” are the next luckiest – with each featuring 16 times at the start of words in previous winners’ names.

If P is your lucky letter, then No. 17 – A Prince of Arran is your horse… the only other P in the field is in the middle of Rostropovich (#24).